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In The Heart of the Sea
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In The Heart of the Sea Week One
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Great to be reading and discussing a book together again! I hope you are feeling better soon Deb. I'm sure Pippa will give you lots of furry snuggles to make you feel better :)I must admit there were times when I felt too stupid to be reading this book, I don't have a great knowledge of things "Maritime or Boating" in general. And found many words I had not even heard of before that had me reaching for a dictionary. And there were moments in the first chapter or so I thought, nope I don't think I can do this, ABANDON SHIP!!!
So that being said, since sticking with it I feel I have found my groove and am starting to feel interested and I'm quite enjoying the story.
One of the first items to be marked was a comment made in the first few pages saying, "Nearly every child in America read about it in school" Is this accurate? Having not taken History as an elective subject in later high school years, I can't 100% say that this isn't taught in Australia. But I did not learn about the story of the Essex at school.
I haven't read Moby Dick, and didn't know the story was based on the story of the Essex. Only after seeing the preview of the movie and when I investigated further did I find this out.
The description of a whales death, did not come as a surprise to me, as when I was growing up my Uncle had a immense love and respect of whales. He had many books on whales that I read. And Whaling was shown in the books, along with brutal pictures of the slaughtering of whales. And how it was done. Since then, I have been very "Save the Whales" "Free Willy" in my thinking of Whaling. But I realize more now after reading a small part of this story that this was a way of life for people, a way of survival and also a way for the people to prosper when they had little else.
I was very surprise that the black sailors received the same wage as white sailors. And so it was surprising to me that even though both received the same wages that Black Sailors were still treated differently.
I agree Deb, it is so baffling to me to think of spending years out at sea, and how their way of life was. Especially that of the Women of the men who spent years away only to be home for months. I particularly like the verse on page 16 "Then I'll haste to wed a sailor, and send him off to sea.......... I can't help but compare it to how things are now especially in Australia where women send their men off to the mines for work, some work up to a month away and then only come home for 1 or 2 weeks.
Perhaps not so comparable but in the times of Vikings, woman used to run things whilst the men went plundering. So I guess woman taking over the workforce so to speak has been going on for a very long time.
Favorite funny quote so far " If someone was cross-eyed he was born in the middle of the week and looking both ways for Sunday"
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I loved that quote I'll have to jot down some of my faves too.
I don't thinks it's being not smart enough but so much of this is told in the language of that era and I don't know that sailors today use the same jargon.
Ah Yes perfect example, the Vikings thanks
I felt the same way as Ang at the beginning of the the book. Something wasn't quite clicking with me. I'm glad I stuck to it though because after the first chapter I really got into it.I haven't read Moby Dick and had no idea it was inspired by something that really happened. Now my interest is piqued and I'd like to tackle Moby Dick at some point.
I had no knowledge of what a whaler did or how they even went about killing a whale prior to reading this book. It was gruesome and lengthy process. A job not for the faint of heart.
Being away on a ship for two or three years at a time seems impossibly long to me. I can't even begin to imagine being away from family and friends for that long. Prior to reading this book I would have never dreamed crews were out at the sea that long. I can only imagine the sailors felt like strangers to their families when they returned home.
Ang from OZ wrote: "Great to be reading and discussing a book together again! I hope you are feeling better soon Deb. I'm sure Pippa will give you lots of furry snuggles to make you feel better :)I must admit there ..."
Ang, I love the cross-eyed quote! It's one of my favorites too!
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I haven't ..."
April some great thoughts here and I didn't know they were gone that long either. Nor that they had decimated the local "Right Whale" populations or that these gorgeous creatures got their names from their killers, the whalers
still sick trying to get better ugh and it's going to be in the 60s later this week I want to walk my new doggie LOL
So far, I have mixed feelings about this book, but overall, I'm enjoying it. There are times that I am totally captivated and can't put the book down. Then there are parts that I find a little boring. I think this stems from not being very familiar with the subject matter.
No, I haven't read Moby Dick. In school, there was a list of classics, that even though we didn't read all of them, we still had to learn the titles and their authors. So I've always known it was a book by Herman Melville about a whale, but I didn't realize it was based on fact.
My prior knowledge of the whale's death is very limited, so I did find it to be very brutal. Even so, I think I had prepared myself, because I was expecting it to be bad.
The prejudice against the black sailors doesn't surprise me, but I was surprised that, though treated differently, they were paid the same wages as the others! I think one of my favorite moments was when William Bond takes it upon himself to rescue the trunks and equipment from the sinking boat. I do hope we find out later that he was rewarded for his efforts!
The role of women back then was pretty amazing (as is today too!). I guess it's easy to have a visual of women in the olden days cooking and cleaning, barefoot and pregnant, when the truth is that they did all that and worked too!
No, I haven't read Moby Dick. In school, there was a list of classics, that even though we didn't read all of them, we still had to learn the titles and their authors. So I've always known it was a book by Herman Melville about a whale, but I didn't realize it was based on fact.
My prior knowledge of the whale's death is very limited, so I did find it to be very brutal. Even so, I think I had prepared myself, because I was expecting it to be bad.
The prejudice against the black sailors doesn't surprise me, but I was surprised that, though treated differently, they were paid the same wages as the others! I think one of my favorite moments was when William Bond takes it upon himself to rescue the trunks and equipment from the sinking boat. I do hope we find out later that he was rewarded for his efforts!
The role of women back then was pretty amazing (as is today too!). I guess it's easy to have a visual of women in the olden days cooking and cleaning, barefoot and pregnant, when the truth is that they did all that and worked too!
TarHeelGirl00 wrote: "So far, I have mixed feelings about this book, but overall, I'm enjoying it. There are times that I am totally captivated and can't put the book down. Then there are parts that I find a little bori..."Tarheelgirl, I am finding the same thing with being riveted one second and bored to tears the next. I will be glad to have read the book though, as I think I have definitely learnt something.
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Great points TarHeelGirl
Thanks for sticking with it
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I agree with you and TarHeel Ang
But there aren't many Non Fiction books that I absolutely loved Maybe Cleopatra that one was pretty interesting.
Almost all the non-fiction books i have read have been about animals. This read is quite different from any other non-fiction book i have read, so far. I am glad to be reading the story, learning so much!
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Now if I could just feel better too :)
Susan wrote: "Sorry guys I abandon ship on you just could not get into it."
Sorry to hear that. I agree it was a little tough to get into at first.
Sorry to hear that. I agree it was a little tough to get into at first.
That's all good Susan, I always say life's too short to read books you don't like. It was a struggle to start with for me also, but I've soldiered on!
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In The Heart of the Sea
Week One
Holy Cow I learned so much I never knew about the Whaling biz and about the Essex.
I am really enjoying it so far and I hope you are too!
Lets get on it
On November 20, 1820 an angry 85’ Sperm Whale weighing in at a whopping 80 tons purposely rammed and sunk the Whale ship Essex. Fifteen months later another Whale ship spied the 8 of 20 remaining survivors of the Essex.
1. Have you read Moby Dick and did you know that it was based on the Essex?
2. The description of a whale’s death by a whaler was brutal.
What did you know about this and what came as a total surprise?
3. They mention black sailors on the Essex, yet they’re not slaves.
And even though they were still subjected to prejudice did this fact surprise you.
4. I sometimes forget the adventuresome spirit of our forefathers but the enormousness of this journey seems almost incomprehensible to me.
What about you?
5. The community of Nantucket was unique for a few reasons.
The women ran most of the day-to-day operations while the men were off whaling sometimes for years at a time and it was wealthy while the rest of the country was suffering from a depression.
Even thought this was on a much smaller scale I thought the first time women in the US took over the workforce was during WWII.
Do you know of any other time in US or other history where women took charge like this?
Remember no spoilers and I will post some more questions mid week!